On Anthony Mangieri, John Coltrane, auto mechanics and The Truth

Anthony Mangieri wanted to be a jazzman growing up. He eventually found his passion and talent in pizzamaking, but jazz still holds a place close to his heart. In speaking about his craft — my words, not his — he often brings up John Coltrane.

“John Coltrane, when he would go on the road, would practice all night long in the hotel after a show while the other guys went out and partied,” says Mangieri. “He would keep practicing. I think that’s all it comes down to …. Trying to be dedicated and sticking with it. This is what you do, this is what you should be doing.”

Over the weekend, I wrote a piece about Mangieri, the man behind Una Pizza Napoletana. I hope you get a chance to read it. In many ways, Mangieri should be an example — if not an inspiration — of the act of immersing yourself, practicing/evolving nonstop a la Coltrane, and truly learning something. It’s not a parable limited to restaurants, either. Fewer shortcuts, more effort is a lesson that rings true in any industry, from reporting to lawyering to construction.

Here are some bonus quotes — deleted scenes, if you would — from my time spent with Mangieri.

The Truth: “The truth of pizza? I think it means that you’re, first of all, the pizza man. You’re a pizzamaker. I don’t feel that you can run a pizzeria and make pizza by taking a class for a week from somebody who isn’t a pizzamaker and then come back and teach your guys in the kitchen how to do it and then it’s equal to someone who is a pizzamaker … The truth of it is the same thing for me if you’re talking about an auto mechanic. If I’m getting my car fixed, I want to go to an auto mechanic, not a guy who just thought it would be cool to own a garage but doesn’t know how to fix cars. It’s very mechanical when I say the truth. It’s not anything abstract.”

On Expansion: “The amount of opportunities presented to me over the years are sick, and I’ve never take any, because I never felt like it was the right thing to do. How am I going to make pizza? … It’s just a symptom of the world right now. It’s so heartbreaking. Even places that have been in business for years and years, one place was always good enough for first generation, but not the second or third generations. Now all of a sudden that’s not good enough, they have to open a second place. A hundred years in business. One is good, but now, no. We need two.”

On How He Recognizes a Great Pizza: “When I’m moving it in the oven, before it comes out, I can feel the way that it is. It feels different when you pick it up and lift it off the floor. When it’s the right way, there’s a feel. I know it already. Once it comes out, it’s the way it looks, the aesthetics of it. The way the crust is cooked, the way it pops. It should look magical and alive, shiny and glistening.”